Nevada Conservatory Theatre unveils lineup for 2013-14

Nevada Conservatory Theatre’s 2013-14 season covers considerable ground, from Neil Simon’s “Brighton Beach Memoirs” to Bertold Brecht’s “Good Person of Szechuan,” from new comedies to longtime favorites such as “A Christmas Carol” and “Grease.”

The professional theater training program at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NCT teams working actors and advanced students in productions at both the Judy Bayley Theatre and smaller Black Box Theatre.

Opening the season Sept. 20: “Dog Explosion,” by UNLV film instructor Sean Clark, is a dark comedy set in rural Missouri that involves three siblings facing a family crisis.

Simon’s “Brighton Beach Memoirs,” opening Oct. 10, is the first part of Simon’s autobiographical trilogy, a Depression-era tale of a teenage boy trying to endure life in a Brooklyn walk-up with six squabbling family members — where, as one character observes, “if you didn’t have a problem, you wouldn’t be living here.”

In November, NCT collaborates with downtown’s Cockroach Theatre on Israel Horowitz’s darkly comic “Line.” Off-Off-Broadway’s longest-running show (playing continuously since 1974), “Line” focuses on a group of strangers lining up for an unidentified event — and how they lie, cheat, wrestle and push to become first in line. After playing at UNLV, the show moves downtown to the Cockroach Theatre.

NCT concludes its fall season with “A Christmas Carol,” while Pulitzer Prize nominee Theresa Rebeck’s “Seminar” kicks off the spring season Feb. 6.

A biting comedy that played on Broadway in 2011 (with Alan Rickman as star), “Seminar” focuses on four aspiring novelists who study with an international literary figure — and discover that wordplay can be vicious, on the page and in life.

Brecht’s “Good Person of Szechuan,” in March, focuses on a young prostitute struggling to lead a “good” life — and forced to invent a male alter ego to protect herself from the brutality surrounding her.

In April, “Five Women Wearing the Same Dress” — reluctant bridesmaids trying to avoid an ostentatious wedding reception — discover a common bond in an irreverent comedy by Alan Ball, Oscar-winning “American Beauty” screenwriter and Emmy-winning creator of TV’s “Six Feet Under” and “True Blood.”

NCT’s spring season wraps up in May with a rockin’ return to Rydell High in the musical favorite “Grease.”

Season subscriptions and other ticket information is available online at pac.unlv.edu/nct.

Contact reporter Carol Cling at ccling@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0272.